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No matter how we consider ourselves different based on our country of origin and cultural background, the world sees us all as black. We need to embrace our similarity and support each other to be our best. Acculturate without assimilation Panelists talk about their personal story and perception of the black experience from his/her vantage point

The world is a whole today --and it's been that way ever since a new capitalist class set out to conquer the world in the 1500s. Stealing gold &amp; spice from Asia and the Americas; stealing human beings from Africa; stealing raw materials from all over the earth; impoverishing other lands, driving people to migrate to escape poverty. Capitalism's voracious thirst for wealth ties the whole world together. But to keep its hands on the wealth it steals, capitalism tries to set us against each other. Divide and rule is a very old, rotten fraud.

The politicians, commentators, and businessmen dare to say, &quot;Detroit is coming back.&quot; Whose Detroit? Downtown &amp; stadiums, sure. But what about OUR schools, cheated for funds? What about OUR homes, stolen from us by fraudulent mortgages and tax foreclosures? What about real estate taxes, water rates and car insurance that everyday people pay? Highest in the country! Ordinary neighborhoods are being emptied out -- so the rich can fatten themselves.

In 1987, Blue Cross tried to force a contract on its unionized workforce that would have frozen wages, cut sick time, cut other benefits. 4,300 workers went out on strike. They demonstrated, they picketed, they went to other workplaces and showed up all over town. But above all, they led their own strike. They discussed together, they decided what to do. And that gave them the force they needed to win. What they proved in 1987 is still valid today: We can fight for ourselves, we can push back. We can determine our own future.

In October, Russian workers and peasants finished the work of throwing out the old regime, so they could begin to build their own society. But they were invaded, surrounded by armies from every power, including the United States. Even so, eventually they won. What were they able to do? What blocked them from building socialism? What does the experience of their revolution, 100 years ago, mean for us today? Today, with capitalism finally reasserting itself in Russia, Russia is going backwards. And what does this mean for us? Doors open at 4:30 pm. Event starts promptly at 5:00 pm.

After World War I, England and France stole oil wealth from the Arabian Peninsula. After World War II, the U.S. went to war so U.S. corporations could put their hands on that oil. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed in Iraq, not to mention Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia -- plus U.S. soldiers. There is a human price that must be paid for the capitalist thirst for profit. To put an end to war, we have to put an end to the system whose thirst for profit leads to war.

Build an area wide Tenants’ Union
Build the fight against Gentrification
Defend Subsidized Housing
Tenants Unite to fight for good housing for all!
Area wide Tenants’ Meeting
Saturday, November 22nd, 2014
3:00 pm
International Institute, 111 East Kirby
(near Wayne State and across from Detroit Institute of Arts)
Tenants from around Detroit and surrounding communities are organizing to build a broad Tenants’ Union to fight for tenants’ rights and to defend against landlords’ attacks. We are working to build the fight against gentrification, which is hitting tenants in subsidized housing and buildings in the downtown area and around Wayne State, especially hard. Many of these attacks are focused on seniors who have lived in their buildings for many years.
We are determined to halt these attacks and defend the rights of seniors and all tenants in subsidized housing. Other private management companies are attacking people in subsidized housing, especially young single moms. In Cornerstone Estates, near Cass Tech, the private management company is attempting to evict young women without hearings or without a right to defend themselves, claiming illegal drug activity when the only “evidence’ is that young Black men were visiting or riding in a car with a tenant.
Other tenants with private slumlords are living in buildings without heat or fire alarms or working elevators, where tragedies are waiting to happen. Whether you are a senior facing gentrification, or a tenant in subsidized housing with your rights under attack, or a tenant with a private slumlord living in impossible and unsafe conditions, this is the time to organize and fight. Tenants are organizing their buildings and supporting each other.
Join us in this fight. Come to the Tenants’ Meeting.
detroitevictiondefense.org - dtenantsunited@gmail.com
http://www.facebook.com/events/1495357237410815/